FEU – ALABANG
Lot 1, Corporate Woods Avenue corner South Corporate Avenue
Woods District, Filinvest City, Alabang, Muntinlupa City
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
SY 2020 – 2021
21ST CENTURY LITERATURE FROM THE
PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD
STUDY GUIDE #6
World Literature
21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World Page 1 of 4
FEU – ALABANG
Lot 1, Corporate Woods Avenue corner South Corporate Avenue
Woods District, Filinvest City, Alabang, Muntinlupa City
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
SY 2020 – 2021
World Literature
Canon
o canon = rule/ measuring rod
o in literature, refers to the list of works that represent a particular cultural/ national group
o works included in the canon are said to be imbued with artistic, cultural, and intellectual value = best
o The canon developed over time
o slowly shifting
o despite the absence of universal consensus, the canon is manifested in school syllabuses/ course outlines, literature
programs/ BA Literature degrees colleges, literature textbooks, publications of academic printing houses, journal
articles in literature
Some assumptions
o Canon = canon formation
o canon formation = the existence of “legitimate authority” to decide what gets in, what gets out
o the existence of “legitimate authority” to decide what gets in, what gets out= institution preserving, perpetuating the
canon until it is revised.
Issues with Canon
o In the Philippines, past „canons‟ yielded a hierarchy
o Foreign works by male writers (Anglo- European/ American)
o Foreign works by female writers (Anglo- European/ American)
o Local works in English by male writers
o Local works in English by female writers
o Local works in Filipino by male & FEMALE writers
o Local works in Filipino & ENGLISH by male & FEMALE writers in the NCR
o Local works in the regional languages
o The previous canon of Philippine literature was said to be manila centric in the advent of the closing of the 20th
century (and the opening of the 21st century), the canon was made to be more Inclusive. the invisible rubric of class
and gender was slowly abandoned the canon, and the bulk of literary studies and the humanities in general, made
literature (and all art) a beautiful ornament. Nothing more, nothing less.
o popular texts/ media= texts for mass consumption
o regarded as “passing” and devoid of canonical merit.
o the dichotomy exists because of the implicit value of the canon=classical tradition and modernism
o the acceptance of popular culture changed the study of literature
o popular texts/ media= texts for mass consumption
o regarded as “passing” and devoid of canonical merit.
o the dichotomy exists because of the implicit value of the canon=classical tradition and modernism
o the acceptance of popular culture changed the study of literature
Masterpieces
o De- emphasizes the Classical Greek and Roman traditions
o Includes fairly recent works
o another term for the classics
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FEU – ALABANG
Lot 1, Corporate Woods Avenue corner South Corporate Avenue
Woods District, Filinvest City, Alabang, Muntinlupa City
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
SY 2020 – 2021
o canon is slowly adjusting
Windows to the World
o Literatures from foreign countries are placed together in canonical works
o The purpose of world literature is to introduce readers to the cultures of the world
o Common themes in the literatures of the world
American and Canadian Literature in the contemporary age
o deals with social issues (gender, freedom, human rights, (in)tolerance)
o chic literature, speculative fiction and Young Adult literature are popular
o literatures mediated by the internet: fanfiction, and wattpad
o Popularity of TV series (employing techniques from literature)
African Literature in the contemporary age
o preoccupation with the recovery of the African identity after years of colonial slavery
o lamentations on violence
o cry for recovery
Asian literature in the contemporary age
o Conflict in Tradition and Modernity
o Acceptance of Western forms
o In the case of Japanese Literature, synthesis of indigenous, traditional, and western forms is evident (e.g. Anime and
Manga)
o Gender issues and religious conflict
Latin American literature in the contemporary age
o politics and the individual
o experimentations in form and content
o Popularization of the testimonio
Modernism
o Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes
the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising
from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
o Modernism was a revolt against the conservative values of realism. Arguably the most paradigmatic motive of
modernism is the rejection of tradition and its reprise, incorporation, rewriting, recapitulation, revision and parody in
new forms. Modernism rejected the lingering certainty of Enlightenment thinking and also rejected the existence of a
compassionate, all-powerful Creator God.
o Post modernism
o Postmodernism remains a dominant influence in 21st-century world literature. Anchored on the philosophical
postmodern theory characterized by broad skepticism or relativism, postmodernism maintains a critical sensitivity to
the role of ideology in proclaiming and preserving political power.
o In literature, for example, the meaning of words is to be determined by readers and not authors. In this way, a
reader's interpretation of the text is more important that the text itself. Moreover, the reader also makes his/her
subjective interpretation of the author's intention. The French literary theorist, Roland Barthes, emphasizes that the
origin of the text, i.e., the author, is not the important thing. Rather, it is the destination, i.e., the reader.
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FEU – ALABANG
Lot 1, Corporate Woods Avenue corner South Corporate Avenue
Woods District, Filinvest City, Alabang, Muntinlupa City
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
SY 2020 – 2021
o Another major influence or theory that rose at the turn of the 21st century is Transrealism, which argues for an
approach to writing novels using a plausible setting and true-to-life characters. It rejects artificial constructs such as
allegorical settings and archetypal characters in favor of real events and people, drawn directly from the author's
experience. It mixes the techniques of incorporating fantastic elements used in science fiction with the techniques of
describing immediate perceptions from naturalistic realism ("Transrealism," 2014).
21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World Page 4 of 4
